Liquids-solids blending machine



June 9, 1959 J. J.}FISCHER 2,890,027

mqums-souns BLENDING MACHINE Filed Oct. 28', 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ,6 j /0 A2, I

INVENTORZ doH/vu. FISCHER BY. @m, @MQMY a ATTORNEYS.

June 9, 1959 5 2,890,027

LIQUIDS-SOLIDS BLENDING MACHINE Filed on. 28, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 HZZZ l/ll/l mvsmoa: Jay/v d FISCHER @aa, M, M? 3am,

United States Patent Patented June 9, 1959 LIQUIDS-SOLIDS BLENDING MACHINE John .l. Fischer, East Stroudsburg, Pa., assignor to The Patterson-Kelley Co., Inc., East Strandsburg, Pa.

Application October 28, 1957, Serial No. 692,714

a 9 Claims. Cl. 259-16) in contact with small streams or droplets of liquid. More specifically, the present invention relates to further improvements in devices such as disclosed for example in prior US. Patents No. 2,514,126 and No. 2,677,534, and

in my copending applications, Serial No. 570,285 and Serial No. 574,922, filed March 8, 1956 and March 29, 195 6, respectively.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a still further improved method and means for adding liquids in small quantities to dry materials such as are normally difficult to wet into uniformly moistened and blended form.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved form of blending mill adapted to uniformly blend relatively small amounts of liquids into-dry materials such as are normally non-receptive to moistening or Wetting treatments.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved blending mill as aforesaid which obtains an improved wet-blending operation Without use of complicated or expensive accessory equipment.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear in the specification hereinafter.

In the drawings:

- Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a wet-blending mill embodying the invention, with portions broken away to show the interior thereof;

' Fig. 2 is a fragmentary parti-sectional view on enlarged scale, showing in disassembled relation details of the liquid feeding and blending mechanism of the mill of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of a modified form of construction of a detail of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along line IVIV of Fig. 2;

w Fig. 5 is a view corresponding to Fig. 3 but showing still another form of liquid dispersion component;

Fig. 6 is a view corresponding to Fig. 5 but showing still another form of the liquid dispersion component of the invention; and

Fig. 7 is a section taken on line VII-VII of Fig. 2, showing schematically operation of the device.

The invention is shown in the drawing herewith as being embodied in a tumbling mill of the type illustrated in the patents previously referred to; the mill comprising generally a hollow container comprising opposite side leg portions 10-12 of frusto-cylindrical form disposed with their cylinder axes intersecting at approximately 90 and welded together as indicated at 14. The outer ends of the cylinder portions 1012 are closed by end plates 16, 18 which are detachably mounted thereon as indicated at 19 to facilitate loading the machine with feed materials and/or cleaning out the machine, or the like. The conwill now be described in detail.

tainer is fitted at its opposite sides with axially aligned cylindrical housings 2020 which mount upon stub shafts 22-24 which are in turn carried within trunnion bearings 2526 supported upon frame or pedestal portions 2728 at opposite ends of the mill.

As shown in Fig. 1, the housings 20 are welded to the container shell 10 and the stub shaft 24 is keyed or otherwise fixed to one of the housings 2% so that the mill container and the shaft 24 are integrally connected together. Means for driving the shaft 24 may be supplied in any preferred form, and as illustrated in the drawing, for example, a motor 29 and speed reducer 36 are mounted on the pedestal 28 and connected to the shaft 24 by means of a sprocket and chain system as indicated at 32. Thus, operation of the motor 29 will cause the mill to rotate upon the bearings 25, 26, whereupon the dry material loaded within the mill will be subjected to a thorough admixing action, as explained in the aforesaid patents.

"A discharge spout and control valve as indicated at 33 is conveniently provided at the apex of the mill container structure, to facilitate dumping of the blended batches of material from the mill into a wheelbarrow or conveyor or the like.

In accord'with the present invention, it is arranged that the dry material to be blended with liquid within the rotating mill is at the same time subjected to a novel agitation action and a progressive wetting operation, as The stub shaft 22 and the housing 20 at the left hand side of the machine as viewed in Fig. l are hollowed to accommodate a liquid feed tube as indicated at 36, and as shown in Fig. 2 the tube 36 extends interiorly of the machine into one end of a hollow combination agitator and liquid feed shaft 40. A key arrangement as indicated at 42 is provided for slip-fitted connection with complementary keyways in the inner end of the stub shaft 22. Thus it will be appreciated that the stub shaft 22 and the agitator-feed shaft 40 are arranged to rotate freely relative to the housing 20 while the latter rotates in the pedestal bearings 25-26. The hollow agitator shaft 44) spans the interior of the container 10-12, terminates in an end plug and stub shaft portion 44 which is telescopically mounted within the shaft 40 and is spring-urged into operative position for disconnection purposes, as explained in my prior patents Thus, the stub shaft 44 rotatably engages with an axially bored portion of the stub shaft 24. A motor as indicated at 45 is mounted on the pedestal 2'7 and is geared to the stub shaft 22 by means of a pulley and belt drive mechanism or the like as indicated at 46.

Thus, it will be appreciated that operation of the motor 45 will drive the shaft 22 and the agitator shaft 40 to rotate interiorly of the mill independently of rotation of the latter upon the trunnion bearings 25-46. As shown in Figs. 1, 2, the shaft 40 is provided with radially extending spiders or discs as indicated at 46 at intervals along the agitator shaft, which support wires or rods 47 at intervals therearound to be disposed generally parallel to the axis of the shaft 40. The shaft is preferably driven to rotate at high speed, much greater speed'than the speed of rotation of the mill casing. Hence, the material load within the mill container, as indicated at 50 (Fig. 1) is subjected to a relatively intense agitation locally in the range of the wires 47 as the load material flows back and forth through the area of the agitator device in response to rotation of the mill casing. I

T ointroduce the liquid feed into the dry material of the mill feed in accord with the present invention, the agitator cage is rotated at suflicient speed to centrifugally empty the interior of the cage of solids when the machine is in operation; thereby cavitating the body of dry feed material (Fig.7) while at the same time maintaining the cylindrical wall thereof in locally churned and;.flufie'd-' up condition. One or more liquid feed discs as indicated at 52 in Figs. 1, 2 of the'drawing,'are'provided;"and

as shown therein a pair of liquid feed discs are illustrated as being employed at opposite sides of thecenter of the mill casing. However, it is to be understood that any'other desired number of liquid feed'discs may be employed at variously spaced positions along the agitator shaft 40, if preferred. In any case, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, the liquid feed discs each comprises a pair of flat circular plates 5354 carried'by corresponding hubs 5556 which are centrally bored so as to slip-fit upon the shaft 40 and then heldin place thereon by any suitable means. i i that the plates 5354 are disposed in canted attitude as shown in Figs. 1, 2 by means of their mountings upon the hubs 5556, thereby providing a superior liquid feed and blending action relative to the dry mill feed material Particular attention is called to thefact as will be explained hereinafter. The hubs may be,

locked on the shaft 40 by means of set screws or the like as indicated at 57, and the plates 5354 may be held in closely contiguous relation as by machine screws 58 or the like. At their inner ends the hub devices are chambered as indicated at 59 to provide liquid supply reservoirs interiorly of the hubs and in communication with the crevices between the plates 53-54.

To assure equalized rate of supply of liquid tothe two disc units 5252, the shaft 40 is preferably provided with some device such as a reduced diameter tube as incommunication with the hub chambers 59 59 to permit the supply fluid to then move under equal pressures at an equal rate into the crevices between each of the pairs of plates 5354. V

The primary objective of the invention is to maintain 'a constant feed of liquid in miniscule particle form to I the annular wall of dry mill feed material externally of the cage as it rotates with the shaft 40. To this end the crevices between the disc plates 53-54 are provided to be of minimum width, and will be in any case dimen sioned to provide the desired fineness and rate of liquid feed, as further controlled by speed of rotation. Thus, for example, when it is desired to deliver into the dry feed material a liquid additive in miniscule particle form as distinguished from stream or droplet form, the disc plates will be for-med with smooth opposed faces and will held together as by means of the screws 58. Hence, as the liquid feed 74 in the hubchambers 59-59 gains access to the crevices between the disc plates it then proceeds to flow radially between the plates toward the be closely peripheries thereof while at the same time fanning out as indicated at 75 (Fig. 7) within the crevices under the influence of centrifugal forces due to rotation thereof and capillary attraction forces developed within the crevice formations between the discs.

Thus, as illustrated schematically in Fig. 7, streams of liquid enter the crevices between the plates 5253 and thereupon proceed to move radially through the crevices while at the same time fanning out over progrese sively wider face areas of the plates. When the liquid feed material is finally expressed at the peripheries of the v disc units into the interior of the cage, it is in miniscule particle form and is thereupon slung in further widening dispersion paths into the churning wall of dry feed material externally of the cage. Furthermore, due to the canted attitude of the disc units52, their liquiddischarge planescontinuously, oscillate axially, of the agitator shaft, wherebynthe, liquid. discharge isinthesformcf a wide band rather than in a single plane having the width of the crevice. Thus, the discharge is further dispersed following expression from the unit 52 prior to its contact with the dry feed material.

Whereas Figs. 1, 2 illustrate the invention as being embodied in a combination agitator-feed shaft having a pair of spaced liquid dispersion disc units, it is to be understood that any other desired number of dispersion units may be employed and that the physical construction thereof may be varied. For example, Fig. 3 illustrates another form of liquid dispersion unit, any number of which may be mounted upon a single shaft as explained hereinabove. In this case the unit comprises opposed hubs 82 which are flanged and carry truncated cylinder portions 84-86; the truncation slopes thereof being complementary so as to thereby provide an annular crevice therebetween as indicated at 88. Thus the crevice 88 is canted relative to the axis of rotation of the agitator shaft 40 so that in operation the crevice 88 wobbles and thereby expresses liquid in fine particle form asexplained hereinabove into a wide band of the dry mill feed material externally of the unit. An aperture 90 through the wall of the shaft 40 permits flowof theliquid feed into the unit. Hence, an improved liquid feeding and blending action is obtained. The hubs 8082 are positionally adjustable and fastened to the shaft 40 suchas by means of set screws 89, and hence the width of'the crevice 88 may be readily regulated to provide any desired thickness of delivered liquid particles.

Fig. 5 corresponds to Fig. 3 but shows still another form of a single dispersion unit having a pair of delivery crevices. In this case the housing portions 84- 86 are formed with canted but generally radially extending flanges 92-94 embracing therebetween an annular rim 96. Thus, crevices 9899 are provided to deliver parallel radially dispersed expressions of liquid which oscillate relative to the mass of dry mill feed material into which the liquid is being blended. Shims or the like may of course be employed to regulate the thicknesses of the crevices 98-99.

Fig. 6 illustrates still another form of liquid dispersion unit of the invention wherein the combinationagitatorfeed shaft component is constructed to generally comprise a pair of end collars 102-104 adapted to slip-fit upon a hollow drive shaft or the like through which liquid feed material is delivered to the interior of the dispersion unit. The collars are formed with canted radial flanges 106- 108 respectively; and a series of slightly elliptical annular rims 110 are positioned therebetween, thereby providing a corresponding number of liquid expression crevices 112. The parts are complementarily shaped so as to relatively assemble in the form shown in Fig. 6, and a series of tie rods or the like as indicated at 114 are employed to maintain the unit in operative assembly. Shims or the like will be employed to regulate the crevice dimensions. Thus it will be appreciated that in the form of dispensing unit shown in Fig. 6 the liquid feed material will be expressed from the unit in the form of a plurality. of miniscule thickness radially extenuated dispersionswhich are oscillated constantly within the dry feed material mass; thereby providing an improved liquid delivery and blending action for the purposes explained hereinabove.

Whereas Figs. 3, 5, 6, illustrate only the liquid dispersion units, it will be understood that they may also be used if desired, in combination with agitator cage devices as shown in Figs. 1, 2. Also, the dispersion unitsvof Figs. 1, 2 for example may be effectively employed in many cases without the assistance of cage devices as discussed hereinabove. This would be true wherever .a somewhat coarser dispersion is preferred to produce a somewhat granular type product, still having incorporated therein a more uniformly dispersed liquid component.

3 Hence, whereas only a few forms of the inventionhave without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. A mechanism for adding liquids to dry pulverant materials comprising a container for the dry material, a rotating agitator device including a shaft disposed within said container for churning the material therewithin, and a liquid feed device carried by said agitator shaft to rotate therewith, said feed device comprising paired fiat disc means obliquely mounted upon said agitator shaft and defining therebetween a circularly shaped liquid particle extenuation and expression crevice extending generally radially from but in a somewhat oblique attitude to the axis of rotation thereof whereby to wobble within the churning material, and liquid feed means conveying liquid to the interior of said agitator shaft into the region of said feeder device, said agitator shaft being ported contiguous to said feeder device.

2. A mechanism for blending liquids into dry pulverant materials comprising a rotating container for the dry material, an agitator device including a shaft carrying a rotating cage disposed within said container for churning the material therewith-in, and a liquid feed device carried by said agitator shaft to rotate therewith, said feed device comprising means mounted upon said agitator shaft defining a liquid particle extenuation and expression crevice extending generally radially from but in somewhat canted attitude to the axis of rotation thereof, and liquid feed means conveying liquid to the interior of said liquid feed device.

3. A mechanism for adding liquids to dry pulverant materials comprising a rotating container for the dry material, a rotating agitator device including a shaft carrying a cylindrical cage disposed within said container for churning and centrally cavitating the dry feed material therewithin, and a liquid feed device carried by said agitator shaft to rotate therewith, said feed device comprising paired disc means mounted in opposition upon said agitator shaft thereby defining a liquid expression crevice extending around said device and radially to the axis of rotation thereof, to disperse liquid toward the cavitation wall of solid material externally of said cage, and liquid feed means conveying liquid to the interior of said feed device.

4. A mechanism for blending liquids into dry pulverant materials comprising a rotating container for the dry material, a rotating agitator device including a shaft carrying a cylindrical cage disposed within said container for cavitating the dry feed material therewithin, and a liquid feed device carried by said agitator shaft to rotate therewith, said feed device comprising a series of discs mounted upon said agitator shaft defining therebetween annular liquid extenuation and expression crevices extending generally radially from 'but somewhat in canted relation to the axis of rotation thereof, said discs being of smaller outside diameter than the inside diameter of said cage, and liquid feed means conveying liquid feed material through the interior of said agitator shaft and into the centers of said feeder discs.

5. A mechanism for adding liquids to dry pulverant materials comprising a rotating V-shaped container for the dry material, a rotating agitator device including a shaft disposed within said container for churning the material therewithin, means driving said agitator shaft to rotate at a speed higher than the speed of rotation of said container, and a liquid feed device carried by said agitator shaft to rotate therewith, said feed device comprising means mounted upon said agitator shaft defining radially extending annular liquid particle extenuation and expression crevice extending in oblique relation to the axis of rotation thereof, and liquid feed means conveying liquid to the interior of said agitator shaft into the region 6 of said feeder device, said agitator shaft being ported contiguous to said feeder device.

6. A mechanism for blending liquids into dry pulverant materials comprising a relatively low speed rotating V-shaped container for the dry material, an agitator device including a shaft carrying a relatively high speed rotating cage disposed within said container for churning the material therewithin, and a liquid feed device carried by said agitator shaft to rotate therewith, said feed device comprising means mounted upon said agitator shaft defining a liquid particle extenuation and expression crevice extending generally radially of but in somewhat oblique relation to the axis of rotation thereof, and liquid feed means conveying liquid to the interior of said liquid feed device.

7. A mechanism for adding liquids to dry pulverant materials comprising a rotating V-shaped container for the dry material, a rotating agitator device including a shaft carrying a cylindrical cage disposed within said container for churning and centrally cavitating the dry feed material therewithin, and a liquid feed device carried by said agitator shaft to rotate therewith, said feed device comprising means mounted upon said agitator shaft defining a plurality of parallel liquid expression crevices extending generally radially but in oblique relation to the axis of rotation thereof, to disperse liquid in an oscillating path toward the cavitation wall of solid material externally of said cage, and liquid feed means conveying liquid to the interior of said feed device.

8. A mechanism for blending liquids into dry pulverant materials comprising a rotating container for the dry material, a rotating agitator device including a shaft carrying a cylindrical cage disposed within said container for cavitating the dry feed material therewithin, and a liquid feed device carried by said agitator shaft to rotate therewith, said feed device comprising a series of discs mounted upon said agitator shaft in contiguous stacked relation transversely of but oblique to the axis of rotation thereof, thereby defining therebetween annular liquid extenuation and expression crevices extending generally radially but somewhat in canted relation to the axis of rotation thereof, said discs being of smaller outside diameter than the inside diameter of said cage to provide a liquid dispersion chamber therebetween, and liquid feed means conveying liquid feed material through the interior of said agitator shaft and into the centers of said feeder discs.

9. A mechanism for blending liquids into dry pulverant materials comprising a container for the dry material, a rotating agitator device including a shaft carrying a cylindrical cage disposed within said container for cavitating the dry feed material therewithin, and a liquid feed device carried by said agitator shaft to rotate therewith, said feed device comprising flat disc means mounted obliquely upon said agitator shaft defining annular liquid extenuation and expression crevices extending generally radially but somewhat in canted relation to the axis of rotation thereof, said disc means being of smaller outside diameter than the inside diameter of said cage whereby to deliver liquid particles into the cavitation space inside said dry material, and liquid feed means conveying liquid feed material through the interior of said agitator shaft and through said crevices.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 318,191 Leder May 19, 1885 2,009,251 Edgar et al. July 23, 1935 2,273,835 Cornell Feb. 24, 1942 2,324,824 Cornell July 20, 1943 2,677,534 Fischer et al. May 4, 1954 

